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At the McDonald’s 2014 Annual Shareholders Meeting, CEO Don Thompson was questioned by Sally Kuzemchak, a concerned nutritionist and parent, about the company’s notorious targeting of children. Thompson tried to reassure Kuzemchak. “Relative to our marketing, we have been marketing responsibly,” he told her. And then he dropped a bombshell, “We don’t put Ronald out in schools.”
It was a remarkable statement from the CEO of the world’s biggest purveyor of fast food. Not only was Thompson... Read more...

Update: As if encouraging girls to wear a branded Barbie patch on their uniforms isn’t bad enough, now Mattel and Girl Scouts USA have escalated their $2 million co-branding partnership by introducing a Barbie Girl Scout Doll—pink capris, high heeled hiking boots and all.
For generations, the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has been a powerful force for good in the in the lives of girls. Parents trust the Girl Scouts to provide positive role models and foster their daughters’ healthy development... Read more...

Update, October 9, 2014: Today, LEGO announced it will not renew its partnership with Shell. It’s a fantastic victory for anyone who cares about children . . . and the wellbeing of our planet. Please click here if you would like to thank LEGO for their decision.
For the past two years, Shell and LEGO have partnered on a global advertising campaign that includes co-branded toys, billboards, celebrity endorsements, videos, and a full-size LEGO Formula One car.... Read more...

As if urging parents to use television or tablets with babies isn’t bad enough, AT&T has partnered with BabyFirst to introduce the first-ever “second screen” experience for infants and toddlers. The new BabyFirstTV U-verse app encourages babies to use an iPad while watching TV.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time for children under two. When there’s no evidence that even one screen benefits babies, marketing a second one is unconscionable.
Please tell AT...Read more...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed new guidelines that could help limit junk-food marketing in schools. It’s a laudable effort -- but there’s a problem. As written, the USDA's guidelines inadvertently green light the practice of in-school marketing -- the first time any federal agency has done so.
The proposed guidelines require local education agencies “to implement policies for the marketing of foods and beverages on the school campus during the school day consistent with... Read more...

The world of advertising is radically transforming. The prize is no longer our eyes in front of a television, but information about who we are, what we like, and how we’re vulnerable. Our public schools, which collect a wealth of personal information about students, are now particularly alluring targets for corporate marketers.
A recent survey by Fordham’s Center on Law and Information Policy (CLIP) found that 95% of school districts rely on cloud services for a wide array of... Read more...

We have an important opportunity to protect kids and teens from unscrupulous online marketers.
Tracking the online movements of children and teens -- and collecting their personal data -- is big business. Companies sell information they collect to advertisers and data brokers to use for targeted advertising. Recently proposed bipartisan legislation will empower parents to protect children against the increasingly sophisticated surveillance used by online marketers.
Will you take a minute to... Read more...

The commercialization of our schools could get a lot worse in the coming months.Currently, only Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico allow advertising on the exterior of school buses. Some others, such as Pennsylvania, allow ads inside school buses. But more states are considering overturning their long-standing prohibitions on school bus ads in a misguided attempt to solve their budget deficits. The financial plight of schools is... Read more...

There are so many awful screen products for babies these days, but the Fisher-Price Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity™ Seat for iPad® device is the worst yet.
The Apptivity Seat is a bouncy seat for an infant—with a place for an iPad directly above the baby’s face, blocking his or her view of the rest of the world. Babies are literally a captive audience. Please take a moment to tell Fisher-Price to pull the plug immediately on this terrible product.
The Apptivity Seat is the ultimate electronic... Read more...

"If you have $1 to spend on marketing, spend it on kids." – Ray Kroc, founder, McDonald’s.
For years, McDonald’s has been the worst-of-the-worst when it comes to marketing to kids. No other brand targets young children so relentlessly. And the consequences are dire: junk food consumption is linked to a host of diet-related diseases, including Type 2 diabetes. And at time when parents and advocates for children are urging junk food marketers to stop targeting children, McDonald’s... Read more...

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From Our Blog

2/25/2015  As kids get older, can they and their friends enjoy commercial-free fun at home?
This is the third post in CCFC's series: Commercial Quandaries for Modern Parents. Click here to read the rest of the series. Read more...

1/28/2015  Today, CCFC released a groundbreaking new report, OUT OF BOUNDS: The NFL’s Intensive Campaign to Target Children, exposing the National Football League’s marketing blitz aimed at kids. Read more...

Update, October 9, 2014: Today, LEGO announced it will not renew its partnership with Shell. It’s a fantastic victory for anyone who cares about children . . . and the wellbeing of our planet. Please click here if you would like to thank LEGO for... Read more...